Indigenous wisdom in the classroom to protect the planet

Adrián Xopan is 52 years old, but in his town he is already considered an old man of wisdom.

Dressed in his ceremonial white clothing, two red ribbons around his forehead and waist, and a stone necklace, this Mexican indigenous man recently inaugurated a master's degree on indigenous peoples at the Carlos III University of Madrid.

“It is the moment of reconciliation, but of reconciliation between us, the human tribe.

We all belong to the same tribe and this is for the benefit of all humanity, ”he said in his presentation.

In Spain, Switzerland, Sweden or the Netherlands, this indigenous man insists on a commitment to nature and shows ancestral practices such as the temazcal, a ritual that consists of a steam bath of medicinal herbs with healing properties.

“We are in a very special moment because people are beginning to see the effects of the predatory lifestyle and excessive consumption.

In Switzerland, for example, the glaciers are melting and this makes people aware of what is happening, ”he says.

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Two native peoples of Mexico

Calixto Suárez and Roberto Chaparro, Arhuaco indigenous people from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in Colombia, during a recent conference in Madrid. Video: David Palomino/Elena García Quevedo

Xopan knows what he is talking about.

He lives in the Mexican peninsula of Yucatán, a place threatened today by the construction of the Mayan train, a 1,500-kilometer railway that will transport passengers and goods, mainly fuel, through the States of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. .

According to Xopan and hundreds of local residents, this Mexican government project threatens the balance and communication between the jungle, sea and reef.

In December, a group of UN experts claimed that the future train could “endanger the rights of indigenous peoples and other communities to land and natural resources”.

Adrián Xopan in the Debod temple, in Madrid, performs a farewell ceremony for the sun.Elena Garcia Quevedo

The contribution of the Xopan community to the future of humanity focuses on the protection of the Yucatan mangrove swamp.

"The fight is focused on the cenotes that make up the largest underground river system on the planet, which are an ecological treasure of humanity and the only source of fresh water in the Yucatan peninsula," explains this indigenous leader.

Cenotes are spring water deposits found at a certain depth in this area of ​​Mexico and other places in America.

Calixto Suárez and Roberto Chaparro, indigenous Arhuacos from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in Colombia, also travel to different parts of the world to protect their territory.

“Many people know that we live on the earth, but being aware that the earth is a living being is very important,” Suárez explained at a recent conference in Madrid.

Becoming aware that the earth is a living being is very important

Calixto Suárez, Arhuaco Indian from Colombia

Dressed in a hat, cape, and white skirt, a color that represents the snow-capped peaks of his land, this indigenous spokesperson insists that “there are places where the earth breathes, beats, and thinks;

knowing it and acting accordingly is important for the good of all”.

The Arhuacas seek, for example, international support to create a school to teach their rites, myths and creeds, keys in the defense of nature, according to them.

"The responsibility of all of us is to take care of the original mother, the main mother, the mother of all humans that exist: the Earth," Suárez insists.

See through the indigenous gaze

Indigenous peoples represent 6% of the population and occupy, own or use a quarter of the world's surface, although they safeguard 80% of biodiversity, according to the World Bank.

“Indigenous people have taken care of the planet and the West has developed technology.

Now is a good time to see through the indigenous perspective because we need to find solutions”, confirms Ángel Llamas, director of the Master's Degree in International Cooperation at the Carlos III University of Madrid.

For this professor and most of the people and institutions that receive indigenous leaders in Spain and Europe, these peoples have ancestral experiences necessary to adapt to the present, also to mitigate and reduce the risks derived from climate change and natural disasters.

“The university should be a meeting place.

We know that indigenous peoples have responses to the crisis and present life alternatives that are necessary in today's world,” says anthropologist Daniel Oliva, director of the Chair of Indigenous Peoples at Carlos III University.

It is a good time to see through the indigenous perspective because we need to find solutions.

Ángel Llamas, professor at the Carlos III University of Madrid.

Many other indigenous leaders come to Spain and other European countries every year supported by anonymous people to transmit their worldview and their way of protecting the planet.

This is the case of Tata Aurelio, from the Sierra Maestra in Mexico.

Sitting in the middle of a forest in the Sierra de Madrid, he defines himself as a warrior of the earth.

"If we are in harmony with it, everything is fine," says this elderly man of more than 80 years, with a straw hat, skin tanned by the sun and hands scarred by hard work.

The son of peasants, he speaks of the land with the same respect as a son speaks of his mother.

“We indigenous people guard the land.

Technology does not feed us, but the earth does, it is our mother”, he declares.

For Tata Aurelio, fighting for preservation means instilling these values ​​in his children and grandchildren and teaching anyone who listens to him to interpret the weather or fire, the languages ​​with which the planet speaks, according to the tradition of his people. .

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